Knife or cutter for clay-cleaning machinery.



R. W. LYLE.

KNIFE 0R CUTTER FOR CLAY CLEANING MACHINERY.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 8, 1910. RENEWED JAN. 23. 1 14- 1,092,584. Patented Apr. 7, 19m

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KNIFE 0R CUTTER FOR CLAY CLEANING MACHINERY.

APPLIUATION FILED DEC. 8, 1910. RENEWED JAN. 23, 1914.

Patented Apr. 7, 1914.

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ROBERT W. LYLE, OF SOUTH RIVER, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO LYLE CLAY CLEANER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

KNIFE OR CUTTER FOR CLAY-CLEANING MACHINERY.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. "3, 1914.

Application filed December 8, 1910, Serial No. 596,254. Renewed January 23, 1914. Serial No. 814,003.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, ROBERT W. LYLE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of South River, in the county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knives or Cutters for Clay-Cleaning Machinery, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to knives or cutters for clay-cleaning machinery, and it has for its object to provide a simple and im proved cutting means of this class which will be more readily and conveniently oper ative to enable the sharpening of the knife and its adjustability for the maintenance of the cutting edge, and which will possess ad vantages in point of simplicity and inexpensiveness in construction, durability and convenience in operation, economy in operative maintenance, effectiveness and general efficiency.

The knife or cutter constituting my present invention is especially adapted for use in connection with apparatus for separating stones from clay, and particularly in connection with the clay-cleaning and separating machine constituting the subject-matter of my co-pending applications for patent, respectively filed July 2, 1909, Serial No. 505,704. and filed December 16, 1910, Serial No. 597 ,644. The means for separating stones from clay, as comprised in said previous applications, include knives or cutters consisting of blades carried upon cross-bars which are arranged in series successively and spaced apart so that they constitute a moving cutter surface having openings for the passage of the cut clay. Such moving cutter surface may be in the form of an endless belt, whereby the cutter cross-bars are relatively flexibly mounted, or the crossbars may be in relatively fixed position. Reference may be had to said previous applications for patent for a more general detail understanding of the apparatus for separating stones from clay, in connection with which the improved knife or cutter constituting my present invention is especially adapted for employment in operative use.

In the drawings-Fignre 1 is a perspective view of the improved knives or cutters in their arrangement to constitute a moving cutter surface for a clay-cleaning machine.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the under side of the assembled arrangement shown in Fig. 1, parts being broken away to show the construction. Fig. 3 is a front edge view of one of the cutter devices. Fig. 4 is a rear edge view of the same. Fig. 5 is a detail transverse sect-ional view, taken on the line ww, Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a detail longitudinal sectional view, taken on the line y, Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of one of the cutting blades.

Corresponding parts in all the figures are denoted by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a cross-bar of desired length, which is adapted at its ends for convenient attachment to the links of an endless chain or to other means whereby these cross-bars may be mounted in series successively and relatively spaced in the formation of a moving cutter surface having openings for the passage of the cut clay. For the purposes just stated, to provide for the adaptable attachment of the crossbar to the links of an endless chain, the bar is preferably provided at its end portions with perforations, as at 2, whereby it may be bolted to the chain links. The top surface, 3, of the bar 1 is preferably on a flat and uniform plane, as shown, and the under or bottom surface, 4. of the bar proper preferably conforms to the same plane conditions. Its rear edge. 5, is also on a uniform straight plane. The front edge of the bar member, between its end portions,

6-6, is structurally arranged to recede or incline downwardly and rearwardly. to facilitate the passage of the clay which is out or shaved by the knife edge and passes downwardly in the openings which thus exist between the members of the moving cutter surface constituted by the cutter devices herein shown, and this receding or inclined characteristic is involved in the means for fastening and adjusting the knife blades. as comprised in my present invention and improvements and as will be hereinafter fully described.

The cross-bar 1 constitutes the bodyor knife-carrying means of the cutter device, and its front edge, 7, bet-ween the end portions 6, is beveled or inclined downwardly and rearwardlv from its extreme top front edge, 8, to the bottom surface 4. as shown at 9, to form a recess, as at 10, within which is accommodated the knifablade, 11, and the means for clamping or securing the same in operative position. The rear edge 5 of the bar 1 is also provided at the top with a longitudinal recess, as at 12, extending between the end port-ions 6, for the reception of a wear-strip, 14. This wear-strip, in its relative construction and arrangement in the recess 12, has its top surface practically or approximately flush with the plane top surface 8 of the cross-bar, and its purpose is to receive the wearcaused by the passage of the clay through the openings existing between the successively-mounted cross-bars with relation to the cutting edge of the knifeblade. The wear-strip is preferably rectangular in cross-section, and the angle of the recess 12 preferably corresponds thereto, so that each edge of the same strip 14 may be subjected to Wearing service by change in position of the wearstrip, for which purpose the latter is adjustably and detachably mounted and secured in position in any suitable manner, preferably by means of screws or bolts, 15, and having their heads countersunk flush with the top surface of the strip 14:, as at 16, and passing through the bar 1 and secured by nuts, 17, at the bottom sur face 4: of the bar.

In the recess 10 is mounted a clamping strip, 18, the oflice of which is to bind the knife-blade 11 securely in operative position, so that it is secured between the inclined or beveled base surface 9 of the recess 10 and the corresponding top surface, 19, of the clamping strip. The clamping strip conforms, in its relative posit-ion and arrangement, to the inclined or beveled surface 9 of the recess 10, and thus occupies a downwardly and rearwardly inclined position with relation to the cross-bar 1, and its front edge, at the top, which comes immediately beneath the projecting knife-edge, 20, is preferably beveled downwardly and rearwardly, as at 21, to facilitate the passage of the cut or shaved clay from the knife-edge and through the opening existing between the cross-bar 1. The clamping strip is normally maintained a suitable distance from the beveled or inclined surface 9, which distance approximately corresponds to the thickness of the knife-blade 11, where by it is not necessary to detach or separate the clamping strip from the bar 1 at any time under the conditions relating to the removal or detachment of the knife-blade and its re-mounting in adjusted position. To provide for this normal positional relationship of the clamping strip to the bar 1, the strip is provided at its inner face near its lower edge with a series of lugs or projections, 22, which bear against the beveled or inclined surface 9, at the lower portion thereof, and retain the clamping strip a suit able distance from said surface. The fastening means forsecuring the clamping strip in operative position are provided at a point in front of said spacing lugs 22, and such means preferably consist of bolts, 23, having their heads countersunk flush with the top surface 3 of the bar 1, as at 24, and passing downwardly and forwardly through the bar at its beveled or inclined surface 9 and across a space existing between said surface and the inner face of the clamping strip 18, and through the clamping strip and secured by nuts,'as at 25, at the under face of said strip. The fastening-means thus operates to clamp the strip 18 throughout its body extent in front of the spacing lugs 22.

The knifeblade 11 is constituted by a flat plate, and in practice is operatively arranged so that its front cutting edge projects a short distance beyond and above the topmost point or edge 8 of the front edge of the cross-bar 1 and above and in front of the beveled frontedge 21 of the clamping strip 18, so that its knife-edge 20 projects and extends longitudinally at the front top edge of the crossbar. Said knife-blade 11 is received and retained in projective operative position between the beveled or inclined sur-' face 9 of the bar 1 and the inner face of the clamping strip 18, and it is provided in its rear edge with a series of recesses, 26, which receive the shanks of the bolts 23 which secure the clamping strip.

Under the conditions of. the 'foregoing construction, it will'be noted that the top surface 3 of the cross-bar member 1 at all times presents a smooth plane condition Without obstruction-s or projections, which is desirable in the class of clay-cleaning machinerv to which my present improvements especially appertain, as the clay being acted upon is retained in contact withthe moving cutter surface constituted. by the cutting means herein shown and the stones and refuse matter are carried thereon to a point of deposit. It is also'desirable to prevent the clay cuttings or shavings, or any of the material being acted upon, from passing between the spaced 0I'OSS-bar members 1 at points beyond the terminal ends of the knives or cutter and thus coming into con- 1 tact with the links of the endless chain carrying the bars 1 and clogging the same or' afiecting the fiber surface upon which the chainli-nks travel in "the usual construction and organization of this class of clay-cleaning machines. To obviate the conditions just indicated, in .my present invention and improvements the front edge 7 of the crossbar 1, at each of the terminal ends of the knife or cutter 11, and thus at a point existing between the ends of the knife and clamping-strip recess 10 and the parts of the end portions 6 which are secured to the chain links,is providedwith a lug or enlargement, as at 27, against which'the rear 1 edge 5 of the next succeeding cross-bar 1 will bear and which thus closes at these points intermediate of the knives and chain links the space existing between the spaced successive cross-bars. These lugs or enlargements 27 may be separate strips or members secured to the front edge of the cross-bar 1 by screws, as herein shown at 28, or they may be integral with the crossbar.

The operation and advantages of my in vention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which it appertains.

In practice, when the cutting edge of the knife-blade has become worn and it is desired to sharpen the same and restore the normal projecting status of the cutting edge 20 with relation to the spaced cross-bars 1, it is only necessary to loosen the nuts 25, to release the clamping action of the clamping strip 18 upon the knife-blade, and then withdraw the latter. The cutting edge 20 can then be sharpened and restored to its normal condition (which is usually done by suitable sharpening devices especially adapted for this purpose), and the knifeblade is then again inserted in position between the clamping strip and the beveled or inclined surface 9 of the recess 10 of the bar 1, with its cutting edge projecting in normal position (which normal re-setting and adjustment of the knife-blade can be conveniently and quickly accomplished by the employment of suitable gages), and the nuts and bolts 25 and 23 are then tightened up so that the clamping strip securely binds and retains the knife-blade in its new adjusted position. As before indicated, the clamping strip always retains its separated status with relation to the surface 9 of the bar 1, by reason of the lugs 22, leaving the intervening space for the accommodation of the knife-blade, and it is therefore at no time necessary to separate or detach the clamping strip from the crossbar in the operation of detaching or re-inserting the knife-blade in position. The improved construction and arrangement as comprised in my present invention thus enables the separation of the knife-blade for purposes of sharpening and its restoration to normal operative position in a quick and convenient manner without loss of time and with a minimum handling of parts. The improved construction also enables the effective utilization of practically the entire material of the knife-blade, to produce the projecting cutting edge, as the blade can be adjusted forwardly after successive sharpenings and its full body beyond the guide recesses 26 can be successively brought into service, and the improved construction and arrangement also enables the employment of flat blades which can be economically and readily manufactured. It will be furthermore noted that the improved construction and arrangement provides a cutter device which in its application to clay-cleaning machines presents no cavities in the moving cutter surface in which the clay can lodge, and that the top surface of the cutter device presents smooth and unobstructed conditions for the passage of the clay.

Under preferred conditions, the wearstrip let is adjustable, to regulate the open ing existing between the successive knifecarrying cross-bars 1, and such adjustment may be provided for by having an elongated opening in the wear-strip, as shown at 29 in Fig. 5, through which the securing screw or bolt 15 passes.

I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself to the detail construction and arrangement of parts as herein shown and described, as it is manifest that variations and modifications therein may be resorted to, in the adaptation of my invention to varying conditions of use, without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention and improvements. I therefore reserve the right to all such variations and modifications as properly fall within the scope of my invention and the terms of the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A knife or cutter of the class described, comprising a cross bar having its front edge provided with a recess intermediately of its end portions and extending downwardly and rearwardly, whereby the end portions of said cross-bar project forwardly beyond the plane of the front of said recess, a knifeblade set in said recess, a clamping strip accommodated in said recess beneath the knifeblade, and means for retaining said clamping strip in position.

2. In cutting means of the class described, comprising a series of successive cross-bars or members flexibly mounted in relative operative position and carrying cutting edges terminating within the end portions of said cross-bars or members and projecting at the front edge of one member with relation to the rear edge of the next member, means carried at the edge of said end portions of the cross-bars or members for closing the intervening space between said flexibly and successively-mounted members at the terminal ends of said cutting edges.

3. In cutting means of the class described, comprising a moving cutter surface, crossbars or members successively-mounted in flexible relative operative position and having their front edges inclined downwardly and rearwardly, said inclined edges terminating Within the end portions of said crossbars or members knives or cutters carried at said edges and projecting with relation to the rear edge of the adjoining cross-bar or members at the terminal ends of said knives.

or cutters for closing the intervening space between said flexibly and successively-mounted cross-bars.

4- In cutting means of the class described, comprising a moving cutter surface, spaced cross-bars successively mounted inflexible relative operative position and having cutting edges at their front edge, said cutting edges terminating within the end portions of said cross-bars and projecting with relation to the rear edge of the adjoining cross-bar, and means carried by said end portions of the cross-bars beyond said cutting edges and projecting into the intervening space between said bars. a

5. A knife or cutter of theclass described, comprising a cross-bar having its front edge provided with a recess intermediately of its end portions and extending downwardly and rearwardly whereby the end portions of said cross-bar project forwardly'beyond the plane of the front of said recess, a knifeblade set in said recess, a clamping strip accommodated in said recess beneath the knifeblade means for retaining said clamping strip in position, and projections extending from the front edge of said end portions of said cross-bar at the terminal ends of said recess.

6. In means of the class described, comprising a moving cutter surface, cross-bars or members successively mounted in flexible relative operative position with an intervening space between the front and rear edges of said respective members, cutting devices carried at the front edge of said members and terminating within the end portions of said members and projecting with relation to said intervening opening between the respective members, said members having a recess in the top at their rear edge and terminating within the end portions of said members, a wear-strip set in said recess and con forming thereto, and means for adjusting said wear-strip with relation to said intervening opening between said respective members. I

In testimony whereof I havesigned my name in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT W. LYLE.

Witnesses Jos. REED Lrr'rnLL, Bnssrn COSTIGAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of I'atents,

Washington, D. G. 

